Dalkeith driver getting into gear

By Stephen Brunsdon
midlothiansport@jnlothian.co.uk

Dalkeith racer Aiden Moffat hopes to perform better in qualifying at Oulton Park this weekend to build on a highly encouraging start to the British Touring Car Championship.

Moffat currently lies 16th in the BTCC standings after securing his best ever finish in the series with a fifth – and winning the Independent class – at Donnington Park in April.

The 18 year-old told the Advertiser that confidence was now at an all time high among his Laser Tools Racing team.

“It was great for us at Donnington getting onto the podium, for the Independents win,” said Moffat.

“Although it wasn’t an outright win, it still included beating former champions [Colin] Turkington and [Jason] Plato. It was a massive achievement to do it and doing it from 16th on the grid made it even more special. Every time I drive the car, I get a bit more confident.”

Moffat faired less well in the most recent weekend at Thruxton, the high point being a 10th place finish in race two in between a 15th and 16th in the first and third races respectively.

Moffat is pragmatic though and knows that racing is seldom plain sailing. The Midlothian driver is already looking towards this weekend for an upturn in fortunes, which starts with nailing a good qualifying performance.

He said: “At Thruxton, throughout qualifying and the races, certain little issues arose, but those things happen.

“Qualifying is something that we are not good at yet, we have got a really good race pace but having that feel for carrying extra speed and doing it on cue is something that takes a bit of getting used to.

“We do tend to struggle there but come the race, we usually have a good pace so we can stay with some of the faster guys and usually climb our way up the field.”

As for the Oulton Park circuit in Cheshire, Moffat holds bitter sweet memories from his 2014 campaign.

“Oulton Park is not a track I know particularly well however last year in the Chevrolet, I think it was our second best qualifying of the year. We didn’t get to do the races because the engine went but we had good pace so I think it should be quite interesting there.”

Meanwhile, Moffat used the time between race meetings to take part in his first ever rally – in the McRae Challenge at Knockhill to celebrate the life of the late Colin McRae – alongside former BTCC champion Gordon Shedden from Edinburgh.